The Hernando Youth League Pre-Majors (age 15-16) All-Stars had battled back from the beginning of the Dixie Baseball state tournament at Emerson Field. They nearly did it again in Tuesday’s final.
HYL, comprised completely of players from host Hernando High, won two games out of the loser’s bracket to reach the championship tilt, and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t quite complete the comeback, losing to Polk City, 6-5.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t win. We played well enough to win,” said Hernando High head coach Tim Sims, who helmed the HYL club. “But only one team walks away from the field as champion.”
On the first day of play on July 9, HYL lost its opener to Chipley, 6-3. After a bye the next day, on Monday the hosts bounced back to knock off the Brooksville Bulldogs, 9-1, and avenged themselves against Chipley, 9-3.
That set up a three-way tie between HYL, Chipley and Polk City, and HYL had the good fortune of drawing the bye into the final. After Polk City bounced Chipley on Tuesday, 9-3, it had to turn around and take on HYL.
Though HYL built a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Polk City got back in front in the middle innings. Not only did HYL score in the final frame, it had runners on second and third with two outs but couldn’t push the tying run across.
Carson Foradas had a solid tournament on the mound, pitching in three of the four contests. Cameron Price tossed a complete game against the Bulldogs and Carson Lashley did the same in the Chipley rematch.
“Our pitching was very good. That was a strength for us,” Sims said. “We’d like a little better timely hitting. But we competed on that end, as well. But our pitching really surprised me, that we were able to really buckle down and keep us in the game.”
Lashley, Anthony Urso and catcher Patrick Dresser were three players who should have an opportunity at the varsity level at Hernando next spring, and impressed Sims with their play. Morgan Ashton and Logan Flood also played well, as did Trevor Vendrone, who had two runs batted in early versus Polk City.
“The one thing about Dixie Majors tournaments, you get to advance (to the World Series) if you win it,” Sims said. “It means something. The kids play better and the fans are into it better. It’s not just a weekend of going and playing baseball. It’s not lethargic baseball. It was good, competitive baseball for all the teams.”
Two other county entries into the tournament, the Bulldogs and a Spring Hill team representing Springstead High, each went 1-2. Spring Hill beat Madison County on July 9, 2-0, and Polk City the following day, 5-4. However, Monday was a bad day for Spring Hill, featuring a 6-3 loss to Chipley and a 5-4 defeat against Polk City.
Brooksville fell to Polk City on July 9, 10-0, preceding a 6-0 triumph over Madison County the next day before getting eliminated by HYL.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.